I've written extensively about how difficult it's been for the European Union to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. But now that it's finally been given the go-ahead, an entirely new set of problems is emerging surrounding the imminent choosing of the EU's top leaders.

One of the primary aims of the Lisbon Treaty, which will become official law next month, is to give the EU a more defined and powerful role in international politics. The major mechanism to accomplish this goal is the evolution of two posts -- that of a European Council president with longer term and more influential role, and a supreme foreign affairs officer called the High Representative.

The leaders of the newer, more unified union are being chosen hurriedly before an official announcement on Novemebr 19, a ask that is being completed almost entirely in secret by the heads of EU states. Reuters blogger Paul Taylor called the whole thing a "dysfunctional appointment process created by the Lisbon Treaty." And it's a process that has garnered a lot of flack from nations and groups who want the process to be as transparent and democratic as possible -- but there's an important trade-off involved, explains the Economist's European politics columnist.

Many European leaders being considered for the job, particularly heavy-hitters like Tony Blair, don't wish to publicly announce their desire to become the European Council's next president because of the damage control that would have to be undertaken should they not be elected. They'll be forced to turn to their countrymen, tail between legs, and ask to be taken back. And since there is no need for campaigning because there is no real vote and the decision is being made by a very small group of politicians, there's no genuine benefit for the candidates in making the process public.

The Economist summed it up precisely: "Mr Reinfeldt, whose country is more transparent than almost any other on earth, finally had the gumption to say, in public, what I have heard lots of senior EU types say in private: namely, unless you do this whole thing in private, nobody who currently holds a big political job will apply." Will the Lisbon Treaty's catch-22's ever stop coming?